America, meet another one of your soldiers, 26 year old Sergeant Gene Braxton. Sergeant Braxton survived the deadly blast of a road side bomb in Iraq, twice.
A year ago, as Iraqi fighters detonated a bomb that shattered his convoy, Army Sgt. Gene Braxton led survivors scrambling out of their Humvees in the hot dusty haze to hunt for the triggermen.
Five months later, a bigger roadside bomb rocked the armored vehicle Braxton was in. Reeling from a concussion, he dragged a wounded buddy to safety.
Sergeant Gene Braxton, along with 639 of his comrades in arms, just reenlisted in your Army. I’m proud of this young sergeant, I hope that you are too. Sgt Hook out.
CJ has come up with a great idea and is transforming his blog to meet the needs of the future…
In reality, A Soldier’s Perspective is taking a new direction. In the tradition set by No End But Victory, I am transforming the ASP site into a multi-soldier, multi-marine forum. Are you a soldier or marine who would like to start a blog but just don’t have the time to maintain a full-time blog? Was your blog shut down by Big Brother and you still need an outlet that can’t be shut down? Why was your Big Brother deployed with you to begin with? Are you still wetting your cot? If so, this is the place to talk about it.
A Soldier’s Perspective is just that, a perspective from the point of view of a soldier or marine. If you’re deployed, talk about the deployment. Post about something great that happened to you while on patrol. Post something not so great about that one MRE that had you constipated for 4 days before you erupted. Post about anything you like that has to do with military topics. If you can connect the dots between the Olsen Twins, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and your military service you can post about it (mmmm….Olsen Twins!!). If you’ve recently returned from the front and have some interesting stories, post them here. If you’re about to be deployed, post here. If you’re an office jockey soldier or marine who just earned his Chairborne Wings, talk about it here. There is really only one rule: no profanity! ASP readers are a sophisticated bunch who fart in private, pick their nose under the protection of cotton hankie, and wash their hair more than once a week.
What a great way to help provide the Soldiers’ Perspective. Sgt Hook out.
Actor George Clooney and his father have recently returned from Sudan with a message. A message urging America to take action in stopping the genocide currently underway in Darfur. A message worth listening to.
And it seems that thousands of Americans have been moved by said message enough to demonstrate, calling for action.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people joined celebrities and lawmakers at a rally Sunday urging the Bush administration and Congress to help end genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.
“Not on our watch!” the crowd chanted as a parade of speakers lined up for their turn on a stage on the National Mall, the Capitol serving as a backdrop.
“The personal motivation for a lot of us is the Holocaust,” said Boston-based Rabbi Or Rose of Jewish Seminarians for Justice. “Given our history and experience, we feel an obligation to stand up and speak out.”
A call for action from the citizens!
In an interview, refugee Hassan Cober said he was forced to leave his family and flee Sudan four years ago after many were killed and raped. He urged the United States and the United Nations to act quickly, saying he had no idea where his family was or if they were OK.
“We need deeds, not words,” said Cober, now of Portland, Maine. “They need to come to Darfur today, not tomorrow, because what is going on is a disaster.”
And yet, when the American military removes the despot Saddam Hussein from power, putting an end to years of tyranny and torture, that’s unpoplular.
I applaud Mr. Clooney and his dad for speaking out, and I applaud those who have taken to the streets calling for “deeds, not words.” I only hope they understand and support what they are asking for.
You see, “deeds” translates to diplomatic action backed up by military action and if one truly wants the genocide in Darfur to end, then one must eventually endorse the employment of U.S. forces to eliminate said evil. Now, I’m all for eliminating evil, however, I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Clooney and his supporters are ready to have American Soldiers and Marines pay the ultimate price in achieving their end. I mean, why aren’t the same folks marching in support of our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan? I’m just sayin. Sgt Hook out.
The Army is offering free Rosetta Stone courses for soldiers seeking to learn another language. This is a great program as the more bi-lingual soldiers that we have in our formations, the more effective we’ll be on the ground in far away lands. I’m seriously thinking about signing up for a course (as soon as things settle down a little of course). I’ve a pretty good ear for languages, already speak Italian fairly well but a lack of practice has eroded some of my vocabularly. Here’s the list of languages offered through this program:
Arabic
Chinese (Mandarin)
Danish
Dutch
English (UK)
English (US)
Farsi
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latin
Pashto
Polish
Portuguese (BR)
Russian
Spanish (Latin American)
Spanish (Spain)
Swahili
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Vietnamese
Welsh
As I’m a day late (and yes, a dollar short) with the weekend caption contest, I’ll extend the announcement of a winner until Tuesday. Nonetheless, caption this…
Thanks to everyone providing advice on the new Blackberry and of course Palm introduces a new smart phone just to make the decision making process more challenging. The price of these high tech machines is actually making the process easy, but its nice to have a goal.
My grandfather, before he was my grandfather, caught a steamer from Scotland to America when he was 14 years old. After making his way through Ellis Island, relatives in Pennsylvania got him a job in the coal mines of Scranton. When I was just a wee lad, he would regale me with stories of what a miner’s life was like. In those days, they went into the dark caves with oil lamps attached to their hard hats lighting the way, carrying their lunches and a caged parakeet. If the bird suddenly died, the miner’s knew that there was a gas leak and quickly got out of there. They also used to share their lunches with the rats that lived in the deep caverns for if the rodents suddenly started running out of the mine, a collapse was imminent.
The life of a miner is and always has been a hard and dangerous one. My heart goes out to the families of West Virginia who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. Sgt Hook out.
Just a reminder that voting ends on New Year’s Eve. If you haven’t yet voted for your favorite Milblogs, now is the time. As featured in the Washington Post, Milblogging.com has a comprehensive list of Milblogs for your enjoyment.
There is no better single place to find all of your favorite, and soon to be favorite, Milblogs than Milblogging.com. I first heard about this site from the Army Times, and I was not disappointed. Check it out, and while you’re there, vote for your favorite Milblog in the first annual Milbloggies.
This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense. OPSEC trumps everything.
♦ Veterans - Use your VA Benefits to Refinance your home loan with VA Loan Refinancing from VLC.
♦ Allured by a cheap car insurance and other cheap deals. Many tend to overspend on their credit card. This leads them to loans and eventually a debt. If you are planning to work at home, you will have to be careful about all this and more.
In view of a recent tendency to identify characters in fiction with real people, it seems proper to state that there are no real people in this volume: both the characters and their names are ficticious. The names or designations of any military units are ficticious. There are no living people nor existing military units presented in this book.
-Ernest Hemingway
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.
-Author Unknown
The Blog of War
"Grab it before the Pentagon orders it burned..." - Vanity Fair
"...nonpartisan patriotism is the common thread tying together these reflections, love letters and stories of combat. They make for riveting reading." - The Washington Post
Winner of the 2006 Gold Medal for Anthologies - Military Writer's Society of America
"This collection is an excellent introduction to an emerging form of war reporting." - Booklist
